1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an arthroscopic surgical method and apparatus for suture fixation, and specifically to an arthroscopic method and apparatus for installing a suture anchor through a hollow grasping means.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Suture anchors are used in arthroscopic surgery to secure suture material to tissue. Various suture anchor assemblies have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,632,100 to Somers et al. and 4,898,156 to Gatturna et al. disclose suture anchors and tools for suture anchor installation. See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,743 to Nicholson et al.
The devices of the above-mentioned patents are disadvantageous because they do not secure the anchor-delivering end of the driver at the tissue repair site while the suture anchor is driven into the repair tissue. In order to provide stabilization at the tissue site, many of the prior art devices require that the suture anchor be inserted into a pre-drilled hole, as in Gatturna et al. and Nicholson et al. Other prior art devices, such as the device taught by Somers, rely on the technical skill of the surgeon to screw, for example, a self-tapping suture anchor into bone.
Guiding small suture anchor pins and driving them into bone tissue can be excessively demanding, particularly, for example, in arthroscopic Bankart repair. Inserting suture anchors into the glenoid rim is technically formidable, making the procedure infeasible.